The Curse of the Seven Stones
by lanamere
Summary: Maria didn't know that there were TWO curses on Moonacre Valley. So now it's modern times, and Brooke Merryweather-Taylor has come to Moonacre to spend time with her uncle. Now she has to save her new home, with help from Drake De Noir.
1. Prologue

**The Curse of the Seven Stones**

Prologue

_When Maria Merryweather, the second Moon Princess of Moonacre Valley, ended the curse of the Moon Pearls that threatened to destroy the valley she called home in the 1800s, and the De Noirs and Merryweathers agreed to set aside their differences, she honestly thought that that would be the end of their troubles. Little did she know, and little did she know, or hardly any of them know, that the Moon pearls were only the beginning of Moonacre's troubles. Because, long before the first Moon Princess cursed Moonacre Valley and the Moon Pearls, the Merryweathers and De Noirs took something else from nature. The leader of the De Noir clan, and the leader of the Merryweather clan made a pact with the Sun and Moon. The Sun and Moon had been at war for many years, causing chaos in the valley. The Merryweathers and De Noirs helped end the fighting. When the Sun and Moon looked around at the damage they'd caused while at war, they were ashamed, and sorrowful. So, they promised never to go to war again, and begged the two clans to do the same. The two leaders gladly agreed, for they had seen enough of war, and cast an enchantment so that their descendents would never take part in a full out war with each other, or other clans of people, even if they were mad at them, and hated them. The Sun and Moon then agreed to help the clans rebuild. The Sun gave the Merryweathers a gold necklace that held a precious and rare sunstone, surrounded with rubies, emeralds, and diamonds. The Moon gave the De Noirs a silver bracelet that held a rare and precious moonstone, surrounded with sapphires, aquamarines, and diamonds, and the two gave each an onyx ring. The magical jewelry held the 7 Sacred Stones of life. With their power, the families could rebuild, and get back the lives that were lost in both clans. They were allowed to keep the jewelry until the next solar eclipse, when the Sun and Moon would then need it back so as to heal and rebuild the kingdoms in the sky, and to restore their own strength. The Merryweathers and De Noirs rebuilt, and lived happily, sharing nature's beauty, and wonders. The jewelry promised bountiful harvests, and good fortune to both families. But then, just before the eclipse, the jewelry fell into dangerous hands. The 2 leaders that the jewelry was bestowed upon and all their sons but their youngest died. No one knew how. Some say it was old age, others believe that they were killed. Many people suspected their youngest sons, who had been very interested in the jewelry. No one dared accuse them though, because they were the new rulers of Moonacre valley, and with the power of the seven jewels in their hands, they were all but unstoppable. They abused the gem's powers, using them to make Moonacre an empire, rather than an estate. They became more and more greedy, using the jewels to make themselves rich. They did not want to return the jewelry when the time came, for they feared it would turn Moonacre back into a wasteland like it was before the Sun and Moon gave them the jewels. Then, they would be rulers of a wasteland, a place where the only sign of life was the wind, and the cries of suffering. They also feared that the wealth and power the jewels brought them would disappear. So they made a plan to all but destroy the Sun and Moon. When the day of the eclipse came, the Sun and Moon appeared in the amphitheater where their war was ended. The 2 sons welcomed them, and explained that their fathers and brothers had died , and that they believed the cause to be an illness. An illness brought on by the Sun and Moon! They accused the Sun and Moon, although they knew it wasn't true since they had been the ones to kill their fathers and siblings so that they could be rulers and control the jewels, of giving their families the jewels partly to help rebuild, but also to drain their family member's strength and bring it to them, eventually killing them, and teaching their families not to interfere with the business of the gods. They then attacked the Sun and Moon with soldiers they summoned with the jewels. In their weakened state, the Sun and Moon couldn't stop them. They were almost destroyed, when a niece of the Merryweather ruler, and the son of the De Noir ruler came together and helped the Sun and Moon escape. They were then to be hanged for betraying their families. The Sun and Moon rescued the pair, as they had rescued them. They brought them into the heavens with them to become their attendents. They then cast a curse on Moonacre Valley, and the jewelry, which then disappeared. "When the 50,000th Sun is setting and Moon is rising, a solar eclipse will occur. The eclipse will allow us to take our revenge on the traitorous Merryweathers and De Noirs. When this day nears, the reincarnations of our attendents will again walk the Earth, and will join, to save Moonacre, and unite the two clans. If they are unharmed, and unstopped, they will save this valley from destruction and darkness. If not, then they, along with everyone in the valley will perish!" Maria was horrified when she learned that, as were the rest of the two clans. They searched and searched, but it all was in vain. They could do nothing to save the valley, because the only ones who could save them were the two reincarnations of the saviors in the prophecy, who wouldn't appear for more than a century. But Maria had a plan. She and Robin, her best friend, left journals of instructions for the ones that were to save Moonacre, so when they did come, they would know what to do. And so, they sealed away the only assistance they could give to Moonacre's only hope for survival._


	2. Chapter I

Chapter I

**Brooke's POV**

I walked out into the cool, brisk, London air, just as I've done almost every day since I got here. As nice as the air is, it's still not Arizona. Still not Tucson. I was born and raised in Tucson, Arizona, U.S.A. I'm a desert girl, and love everything about Tucson. The gravel, the cacti, the sweltering heat, swimming. But now, I've been ripped away from my school, my friends, my home, my sister, my father. Honestly, I don't care too much about that last part, since he's the one who sent me here, and wouldn't let Melanie, my younger sister, come, so I was kind of mad at him. I've spent about 6 and a half months in Europe. Most of the six months have been with my aunt, and grandparents. They became too old to live in my uncle's care at the old family home in the London countryside, since they were too old to really take care of themselves, and Uncle couldn't really do much for them, since he managed the family's wealth, and had moved into my aunt's luxurious condo in Paris. I wasn't there on summer break, or on vacation, and didn't even have either one of my parents with me. Seeing as one of them was dead, and the other sent me here, but couldn't take the amount of time I'd been here off of work, I guess that's understandable. In the 8 months since my mom's death, my dad had grown distant, and had decided to send me to spend some with, and meet my mother's family. I had already met with several cousins, plus my aunt, and was now in the care of Mom's closest friend, Hermione Greenwood. She was so close, she was practically an aunt. I've stayed with her for two weeks now, and was enjoying walking the streets of the city of London with her, seeing all that I could see, and had purchased a glass cube that had an image of the tower bridge in it. Today, I walked out with her, looking at the streets and buildings that have become familiar. I'm walking along silently, with my sketchbook, book, and Ipod, heading towards the pavilion in the park, which has become a favorite spot of mine. We walk along silently. I'm feeling quiet, since this will be my last day in real civilization, before we head into the countryside, where everything is supposed to be like it was in the 19th century. Aunt Hermione, as I've come to call her, dropped the bomb on me this morning during breakfast.

"Well Brooke, today's your last day in London. Tomorrow we head into the countryside, and go to spend time with your uncle, Johnathan." She knew I loved it here, and wasn't happy to be staying with an uncle who hadn't even come to Mom's funeral, when he had no excuse. My mom's from England, and my dad's Hispanic. This makes me an odd mix of cultures, with a mixture of English and Spanish names. Apparently back in England, my mom's family is kind of rich, so that meant that the funding required to get from the London countryside to Tucson wasn't a problem. He didn't have any elderly family members back at the family home who couldn't come that he couldn't leave like Aunt Annie in Paris did, since Gramma and Grampa were too old to make the voyage "across the pond" as they said, and Aunt Annie couldn't leave them there alone, so they had an excuse, but that wasn't a problem for Uncle Johnathan. So the reasons I denounced were that he was too lazy to be bothered with coming to the U.S. to attend his sister's funeral, whom he must not have cared to much about. That or he disowned her when she moved and married my father. Or it was a combination of both. Anyways, now we were walking along, and arrived at the pavilion. I took out my sketchpad, and looked around for something to draw. I love drawing, writing, acting , singing, dancing, instrument playing, things of that sort. Often I write stories about my truly inspiring drawings, and publish them online on a writing site called "" and also make collections of pieces that have the same kind of theme. I notice a guy leaning against a tree nearby, clad in black, with foresty details, kind of glaring at me. I glare back, waiting for him to look away. I can be VERY stubborn, and don't back away from a challenge easily. Finally, he looks down, I narrow my eyes at him and get to work at sketching him out, since he seems so interesting there. . I start drawing, and get down a good general outline, but when I look back up, so I can get details, he's gone. I guess he walked off while I was drawing. Oh well. I fill in the rest off of memory, adding little details that I'm not sure were there. Then I start on the background. After I finish, I start drawing all kinds of variations. When it's time to go back to Aunt Hermione's apartment, I drag my feet as I pick up. I look over at the tree where the guy who inspired this new little collection stood. I wonder where he went so fast. Huh. Dinner is a quiet event when we get back to Aunt Hermione's stylish apartment. As soon as I can, I escape up to the bedroom that she gave me. I got to come by a few years ago, and she paid for me to decorate it. It looks kind of Old World style, but with modern twists, like a computer, and my white board and tack-board, and camera and photos. I take out my book, Every Soul A Star by Wendy Mass, and read for a little bit. Then I draw. Finally I turn my light out. I try to go to sleep, but it just won't come. I get up, go to my desk, and take out my drawing from this morning. I add a bit to the original, a girl, who looks startlingly like me, and hesitate. Then, in the background behind the girl, I draw a unicorn\horse, and in the background behind the boy, I draw a black lion. Satisfied, I turn off the light, and finally slip into a deep, fitful sleep.

**So this is Chapter 1. Pretty exciting. I added in 2 real life details, Fanfiction, which I couldn't resist, and Every Soul A Star, which is one of my favorite books EVER! I based Brooke on myself, and based the boy she saw, who is actually Drake, on Robin from the movie, and Aunt Hermione on Miss Heliotrobe. Keep reading! :-)**


	3. Chapter II

Chapter II

**Drake's POV**

I watched the girl from a distance. My father had sent me and my men all the way to London to snatch this girl away and bring her to him. And I don't even know what he wants her for. I had ordered my men to wait for me to come back with her at the exit we had decided to use to get out of the park. Just one odd-looking guy watching and waiting for her was enough. Too many milling about would cause suspicion and would draw attention. She came out of her caretaker's apartment that morning and headed towards a park that was right across the street from her home. I was planning on coming up from behind and grabbing her once she reached the park, but then her caretaker followed her out. That was a big setback. I couldn't just walk up and snatch her without expecting her to make a scene, and then I'd have to deal with her caretaker. So I ended up just watching her for awhile. She saw me at one point. She returned the glare I was giving her. I had to admit, she was pretty intimidating, with her flashing green eyes, and dirty blonde hair, that's streaked with pink and blue. I lowered my eyes. She looked down at the notebook that was in her lap. I moved to a different tree that was out of her sight. They just sat there on that pavilion all day. She was drawing or writing something in that notebook of hers, and her caretaker was reading some book. When they left I gathered up my men, and followed them to their apartments, each taking different routes to get there. We went around to the side of the house, and found her window. I had seen her leaning out of it this morning. I clambered up the wall, using little indentations and and stuff on the wall, along with a tree that very close to her window for hoot and handholds, to her window and watched her from a little ledge next to her window. She went to bed, but then when I was about to call my men up, she got out of bed and went to her desk. She turned her light on, and started drawing again. After awhile, she drifted to sleep. I tried to open her window once I was sure she was asleep, but it was locked from the inside, so I went sown the wall a little lower until I found a window that opened into a hallway. We opened it without too much trouble, and were creeping along. We found her bedroom. She hadn't turned the light on her desk off, so we could see clearly. I ordered my men to quietly look around for anything useful or something. Most of them were my father's best men, and knew what to look for, but me and the guys in my group didn't. They just helped the other guys. I went over to her desk. There, on top, was a drawing of ME. It looked just like me, leaning against a tree in a park, glaring off to one side. There was a girl who looked just like the girl who drew it. Off to one side, behind her was a kind of horse. Behind me was a black lion. It was so realistic! She'd even added color, and signed it. When I flipped through her notebook, which was under the drawing, I found more drawings like the first, but with varying versions of me, and in black and white. I turned the desk light off, and backed away carefully, and went over to her bed. She is rolled over so that she's facing me, and I get a better look at her face. She is actually kind of pretty. I shake that thought from my head. She is a Merryweather, after all! That was the one thing Father told me. She's a Merryweather, the clan that is my family's rival, and enemy. Once upon a time, there was peace and friendship between our families. But that peace ended centuries ago. Now, we don't go to war, for some reason, but we get into arguments, and stay away from each other. I see that the girl is holding something in her hand. I gently pry open her fingers and find a pin with a unicorn on it, with diamonds surrounding it. She closes her hand in her sleep, and shifts. I notice a similiar necklace around her neck. Then, there's a crash. Someone, probably Peter, has knocked a jewelry holder with jewelry over, and that pushed a book over, and caused a ruckus. I look over at her dresser. Sure enough, Peter is trying to clean it up. Plus, the jewelry holder also somehow caused a flashlight to turn on and shine directly in the girl's face.  
>"Peter! You blistering IDIOT!" I whisper. The girl is stirring. We all hide. I disappear behind the curtains with my uncle. I hear the girl waking up, and getting out of bed. She comes towards the curtain, and Uncle raises a knife, while I stare at the shadow that growing larger, half of me screaming <em>Don't come over here!<em>, and half of me coaxing, _Yes, come over here, look behind the curtains, and let us kidnap you!_ Then, another crash comes. Peter has probably knocked something over again. I hear the girl turn, and head out the door. Part of me breathes an internal sigh of relief, part of me groans, and part of me hopes that Peter has sense enough to hide again, rather than stick around. We emerge from the curtains and are soon joined by the entire gang. We decide that we've ruined our chances for tonight, which goes against my wishes, but I'm over-ruled, and leave. When we're outside, I stop and look back at her window. The desk light is still on. Either that, or it's the flashlight. She might be drawing again, or be trying to figure out what the cause of the sounds were. Uncle clears his throat. I turn around and move away. A bunch of guys are ganging up on Peter. I walk over, break things up, smack Peter on the head, and grab his shirt. I scold him, and then push him way. Then, I stalk off into the night, with the rest of my men following. I'd failed at what should have been a simple operation. Peter had ruined it. Now, I was going to have to face the shame and punishment that came with failure. Worse, I'd have to face my father.

**Second chapter in ONE day! I'm so psyched! I based this chapter on a deleted scene from the movie, where Robin and 3 other guys, one of them is the guy who catches Robin with Maria, bust into her house and are trying to kidnap her when Robin knocks something over and Maria wake up, and they have to leave. Hope you like it! Peace out. ;-D**


End file.
